TWO hundred irate
and determined Australian Coal Alliance supporters, donned in their red
“Water Not Coal” T-Shirts, waving the familiar protest signs and
chanting “Water Not Coal”, confronted Premier (now
deposed) Nathan Rees during his
recent visit to the Central Coast.

The protest, held on the steps of the Mingara Club, made the community’s
position absolutely clear - the Government’s decision to allow the
Wallarah 2 Coal proposal to proceed to an environmental assessment (EA)
was unacceptable.

Australian Coal Alliance spokesperson Alan Hayes said that the
government could have stopped this madness from going any further.

“All that was required was a little courage and political will,” Alan
Hayes said.

Premier Rees spoke to the crowd and said that the coal mining proposal
had to go through the process.

“It was a sterotypical response,” said Alan Hayes. “A complete lack of
gumption on his part and that of his government to make the right
decision!”

The Premier’s shallow rhetoric did not convince the incensed throng.
They called for guarantees not to let them down.

Greens MP Lee Rhiannon, who was visiting the Central Coast on the day of
the rally, said the action of the NSW Government in allowing the
proposal to proceed to the next assessment stage was irresponsible.

The Minister for Planning Kristina Keneally released the Director
General’s assessment requirements for the Kores coal mine proposal on
the 10th August .

Member for Wyong, David Harris described the announcement that the
Wallarah 2 Mining proposal would be assessed as a mistake and a waste of
time.

"This is a bad proposal, no amount of inquiries will change that," Mr
Harris said.

"The Government has made a mistake with this decision resulting in more
uncertainty and wasted money."